It's our thing
by AceOfClub
Summary: In which Taiki and Usagi become friends, and Usagi takes it upon herself to make the hard-earned bond deeper. (Cross posted on AO3)


"Say, Taiki…"

"What is it, Usagi?" Taiki, who previously had his attention focused on his book, asked, slowing down his walking pace alongside that of his friend's. It was one of those rare Saturdays which he had no idol work to tend to, so he decided to head to school, the one place he was certain to get peace as he wrote a new poem. It was a pleasant surprise to run into Usagi as he was returning, for he was sure she'd rather be sleeping at home instead of going to school for club activities on weekends of all times. Still, he was glad that it was her out of all four girls - their relationship had gotten much better over the school year, and even though he'd also became friendlier with her friends, he still preferred not being fussed over every little thing he did.

"What's our thing?"

He paused. "Pardon?"

Usagi tilted her head and eyed him, almost like she was expecting him to know exactly what she's talking about. Well, that was one thing she often did, and he was already used to it. He swore, being her friend had trained his patience greatly, which… should be a good thing.

"Our thing. Every pair of friends have their thing!" she exclaimed, eyes sparkling as she spoke. Taiki giggled at her dramatic posture.

"Is that so? It's the first thing I've heard of something like that…"

"It's really important! The girls and I go shopping and snack-hunting, Seiya and I check out comics and new fast food places, Yaten and I…" she came to an awkward stop and scratched her head, laughing. "...Well, I'll figure that out some other time."

She turned back to him, hands behind her back. "Since we recently became good friends, I think it's time we find our own thing as well."

Taiki nodded. "I see. What do you propose, Usagi?"

A pout crossed her lips. "You're supposed to be the one to pick it out!"

"I'm okay with anything, Usagi. As long as you enjoy it, I'll be fine."

"No no no. It's gotta be something we both enjoy. I don't really know you that well yet, Taiki, so you should be the one to pick it. You're the genius, so I trust any choice you make!"

A small blush crossed his face. "You exaggerate things - I'm not a _genius_ -"

"You are! You're the only person who can tie with Ami-chan when it comes to school grades, and you always know how to solve any problem we encounter! I can never compare."

"Alright, alright. Thank you for your compliments, but I think we should proceed with coming up with our thing, since we don't have long before dusk comes."

"Okay!"

"What about reading?"

"Er… I'm not sure I'll be able to understand the kind of books you read, Taiki, and I'm sure you won't like the genre of books I read."

He shook his head, arms crossed and teased, "just admit you don't like reading books with only words, Usagi…"

"Hehee… You found out."

"Of course. Why else would you always complain when we attend literature class?" An amused smile crossed his face as he recalled school days with her. Normally, he'd find her staring blankly at a wrong page of the textbook or simply doozing off in class. He usually disliked lazy students, but somehow Usagi had became an exception. Perhaps it was the comical expressions she pulled as the teachers woke her up? Besides, after months of interacting with her, he'd learned that she _could_ get decent grades if she tried, it's just she doesn't have enough belief in herself, or so he'd like to think.

"You're observant. But all textbooks are boring, so that's that."

"Well, I suppose that I can cross reading off the list."

"Hm-mh."

"What about creating? You can draw something, and I'll write a poem to go with it."

Usagi considered for a moment, placing her hand on her chin. "That sounds interesting, but I was hoping for something more…"

"Interactive?"

"Yeah. And we'll have to do the same activity, or it'll be kinda pointless."

"There's always cooking or baking."

Her face sunk - not in the way it did when upset, but rather because she sensed embarrassment in the upcoming topic. "Oh _noooo_. You did not seriously suggest that, did you?"

"Why not?" he chuckled. "I do consider it a somewhat special activity, especially in our case. I did start warming up to you since that cooking program."

"That _disaster_ cooking program, you mean. Rei-chan and the others never ever stop talking about that accident…!"

"Is that so? I think it's a pretty memorable experience…"

"Anyways, consider that one crossed from the list."

He shrugged. "If you say so, Usagi." What else could they use? He was pretty sure she didn't want the activities to repeat with those she shared with others, since she made it a point to choose something 'special'-

"Ah, I've got the perfect idea!" Usagi said all of a sudden, a new idea hitting her as she snapped her fingers excitedly. "Look!"

She pointed at the far west of the lane they were currently strolling on, to the setting sun that was reflecting golden rays across the sky and the lake before them. It was a gorgeous sight, but Taiki didn't quite get Usagi's intention.

"The sun?" he questioned.

"Exactly! We can watch the sunset together! Look, isn't it pretty?"

"It is."

She clasped her hands together. "It's decided then!"

Watching the joyous expression on Usagi's face, Taiki murmured to himself in a low voice, "…so in the end, you ended up being the one to choose it, hm, Usagi?"

"Eh? What was that? I didn't catch what you said."

"Nothing. I just thought how I was right with saying that you were more suited to choose an activity for us. I would never have thought of this."

She shook her head. "Y'know, I actually think your choices were really good too. It's just… I thought our thing should be different. It had took such a long time for us to be able to call each other 'friends', so I wanted this to be really special, ne?"

The sun was already starting to sink beyond the horizon, but all Taiki could focus on at this point, really, was her alone.

"I'm really glad that we became friends, Taiki!"

"Same here, Usagi," he said with a soft smile of his own. "…same here."

A.N. ...so yes, I'm back. With a rarepair I (not really) recently got into no less.


End file.
